Australians of the year, good one.

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Originally Posted by garrycol

No - why cannot Ean express his views on this forum that may or may not be counter to your own.

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Of course Ean can. But I can also counter his thoughts with those of my own, up to a point. Works both ways.

Well done and certainly a crowd favorite.

Soooo apart from the rescue what else have these two lads done?? Serious question....

Not disagreeing with them getting the award just wondering if they’ve done much outside their day to day work.

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Originally Posted by bob10

Because there are politics of division in this country right now, and Australia will never move forward whilst divided. The first step to reconciliation would be to move Australia Day to the date federation was declared, which I believe is Jan. 1st. A date decided by the Australian people, through their elected representatives. As long as we celebrate a random English man stepping on our soil and claiming Terra Nullis [ think that's it] we will always exclude a large portion of our population. Like it or not, until our indigenous people are made to feel included in the Australian story, we will always have this division. And radicals from both sides will take advantage of this division. I don't want my grandchildren to be having this conversation. As distasteful as it may be for some, we must find a way . Just my thoughts, if we can't do this, I fear for the future of this country.

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i dont agree with your opinion.
January 26 is the day First Fleet commander Captain Arthur Phillip rowed ashore at Sydney Cove, raised the Union Jack and proclaimed British sovereignty over part of the continent in 1788
which is different to federation day.
the "random man" was british, not english.

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Originally Posted by Eevo

i dont agree with your opinion.
it marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet.
which is different to federation day.
the "random man" was british, not english.

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I respect your opinion, even if it is not based on fact, for the most part. James Cook, born 27th October, 1728 at Marton, North Yorkshire. Don't know if you know any Yorkshiremen, but just don't try to tell them they are not English. As for celebrating 1788, the arrival of what some historians say " the scum of the Earth'" AKA convicts [a description of which I don't totally agree] as the birth of this Nation, is , to me, just another example of patronising English colonialism. A much more fitting date is the date of Federation, where the people of Australia declared, thru their elected Representatives, they were not part of the British Isles. For some reason, some of our citizens can not let go of our colonial past. Changing the Date to Jan 1st would be a start.

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Originally Posted by bob10

Because there are politics of division in this country right now, and Australia will never move forward whilst divided. The first step to reconciliation would be to move Australia Day to the date federation was declared, which I believe is Jan. 1st. A date decided by the Australian people, through their elected representatives. As long as we celebrate a random English man stepping on our soil and claiming Terra Nullis [ think that's it] we will always exclude a large portion of our population. Like it or not, until our indigenous people are made to feel included in the Australian story, we will always have this division. And radicals from both sides will take advantage of this division. I don't want my grandchildren to be having this conversation. As distasteful as it may be for some, we must find a way . Just my thoughts, if we can't do this, I fear for the future of this country.

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After spending many years in Moree, I could not disagree with more than to say, you have no idea what you are renting on about!

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Originally Posted by bob10

I respect your opinion, even if it is not based on fact, for the most part. James Cook, born 27th October, 1728 at Marton, North Yorkshire. Don't know if you know any Yorkshiremen, but just don't try to tell them they are not English. As for celebrating 1788, the arrival of what some historians say " the scum of the Earth'" AKA convicts [a description of which I don't totally agree] as the birth of this Nation, is , to me, just another example of patronising English colonialism. A much more fitting date is the date of Federation, where the people of Australia declared, thru their elected Representatives, they were not part of the British Isles. For some reason, some of our citizens can not let go of our colonial past. Changing the Date to Jan 1st would be a start.

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Australia day isnt about Captain Cook.

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Originally Posted by drivesafe

After spending many years in Moree, I could not disagree with more than to say, you have no idea what you are renting on about!

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And that, is democracy in action.

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Originally Posted by Eevo

Australia day isnt about Captain Cook.

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Granted. But if Cook hadn't sailed up the East coast, there may not have been a First Fleet.

Reconciliation is a pretty hard pill to swallow in the NT when the indigenous peoples want exclusive control of the vast majority of the coastline (Blue Mud Bay) which will exclude or incur charges for fisherfolk both armature and professionals to be able to fish in most of the NT waters.
This not only impacts directly on the fishing community it will also have a detrimental "flow on" effect on tourism which is a Major industry in the NT and it will cost thousands of jobs.

Jan 26th is when the first fleet arrived and it is the day that Governor Arthur Phillip raised the union jack in Sydney cove, NOTHING to do with Captain Cook whatsoever.
So Jan 26th IS the anniversary of modern day Australia and changing that date to "Mollify" a few disgruntled members of our population is simply ludicrous and changing the date of "Australia Day" would render it pointless.

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Originally Posted by bob10

Granted. But if Cook hadn't sailed up the East coast, there may not have been a First Fleet.

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true, we need a Captain Cook day